One Final Shining
by C.astral
Summary: 20 years after a world breaking war, Rune Midgard lies once again in a tentative state of peace, but as all things head to chaos, how long will it be before the world shatters again? One amnesiac paladin is about to find out.
1. Chapter 1 A Lone Man in the Desert

_Naturally, I do not own RO. Uhh..I'll claim ownership of the characters though._

**Chapter One – A Lone Man in the Desert**

Not so far west of Morroc lay a paladin. His armor lay around him, torn and shattered to pieces, and signs of struggle were all around him. The cross emblem that should have been a dead giveaway for his profession was missing and a silver claymore lay stabbed in the ground besides his head. Whoever had been struggling with him had been courteous enough to leave him his sword. At five foot eleven, he would have made a rather handsome looking paladin were it not for the fact that he tried to shave with the duller edge of his blade and his brown hair was left long and unkempt.

But besides all of that, he was muscular and at this very moment his muscles felt numb, as though he was still suffering from the effects of an assassin's deadly poison. He shifted slowly against the sand, grimacing as his head bumped against the edge of his blade. Then suddenly he remembered what had happened last night and quickly he rose, grabbing onto the hilt of his blade and looking frantically around him for any sign of "her".

She was not there. Instead, he found a lancing pain that shot through his head and groaned as he fell to his knees against the sand. The mark of a black sun, branded on the back of his neck, had flared up. He knew what would happen when the pain finally subsided and struggled hard to hold tightly onto his memories. But this was no ordinary curse, so his attempts were to no avail. When the pain subsided, he realized that he had no clue where he was at all and what had happened yesterday.

The paladin stood up unsteadily and walked towards a set of ruins in the distance. A hundred and twelve steps later, he found himself facing a tattered sign that read "Welcome to Morocc". There were ruins all around him, but besides the ruins, the paladin felt shadows moving, weaving in and out of the empty streets. Drawing his sword, he cautiously stepped forth, keeping his eyes moving all around.

Except that he could not see behind him, and the shadows took advantage of that. Though he could feel the dirk that sliced across his back, his senses were dulled and it took him a second to whip the sword back. Conveniently it tore off the head of an assassin, whose two compatriots gave him open mouth stares. He raised an eyebrow, expecting one of them to cloak or something, but nothing happened and tension seemed to build as a standoff ensued. _Maybe they don't know how to cloak?..._

"No way…was that the last bottle of deadly poison Marks had…how the hell did that guy survive…" He heard their low whispers, but that was getting considerably annoying and though the paladin did enjoy waiting, he had a sense that standing out in the middle of an "empty" Morocc street was potentially dangerous. Quickly he stabbed his sword into the ground and gave a light prayer before forming a cross with his fingers. "Gloria Domini."

He had been expecting a massive spiritual cross to fall on the two assassins and probably stun them. Instead, a fork of lightning struck both of the assassins dead and as they fell to the ground, their corpses burnt up into ashes. The paladin quickly turned to face a high priestess garbed in a standard white uniform, who gave him a knowing smile and bowed.

"Good morning, Arca Criar, I see you've gone and made some friends…now deceased. How unfortunate..." By the cheery fashion she said "how unfortunate", Arca deduced that the priestess was definitely the one who thunder bolted both of the assassins dead. _She's strong…but…who is she…I can't seem to recognize her at all…somebody that knows me. _Arca frowned as he struggled to bring up all of the high priestesses he had known prior, but none of them matched the priestess standing in front of him.

"Hmm...You don't seem to recognize me…I see I wasn't fast enough to catch you before the curse struck today. But that's ok; we'll just play until sunset again and you'll remember me by then. Now that we're done in Morocc, let's head out to…" The priestess paused for a moment, apparently trying to figure out where to go and as Arca waited, he suddenly realized that his shield was missing. Then again, so was his peco steed. Ignoring the woman he quickly left for where he had come from, hopefully his belongings were still close by.

The high priestess followed him out into the desert, without a clue as to what Arca was doing, at least until they came upon the scattered remains of the paladin's full plate. Seeing him pick up the ruined shards, she laid a hand on the paladin's shoulder. "Stop doing redundant things, we'll get to Prontera and they can issue you a new suit there." Arca looked up at her. "Prontera?...Oh, that's right…headquarters is at Prontera…I'm sure the city will have something that will fit me. It's probably time for the summer festival too." The high priestess gave him a controlled smile as he led the way back. _He either doesn't remember, or the curse is sapping away at his sense of time…he'll be in for a shock when he sees Prontera…_

By noon, the two of them were at the middle of the desert, where gaping holes marked the entrance to the realm of ants. Arca did not realize that he had his sword drawn until the priestess laid her hand on his tensed arm. "Don't stir them…they've already surrounded us. Any flicker of that sword and we'll probably get jumped on." Arca nodded and the two of them slowly made their way through the desert, not without noticing the mounds of sand that seemed to move along with them.

"What are they? I never knew ants could burrow that well." The high priestess gave him a light smack over the head. "They aren't normal ants, you were there when we killed off Maya. Since then the ant colony's run berserk. Trust ants to adapt…now we've got even more specialized ants than before. Nobody's gone down into Anthell for years. Who knows what the hell they've come up with?" He nodded and again his sword arm tensed as he watched the mounds inch closer to the pair.

"They're coming…uhh…Miss priestess. You know, you never gave me a name…" The priestess smiled. _It's been four hours….this is the shortest it's taken for him asking me my name now… _"It's Hashtis, now don't forget it this time." Arca nodded, rolling the name over in his mind. "Hashtis…sounds sort of like…a demon's name, you know? Not really fitting for a high priestess." She slapped him over the head and purely on reflex he swung his sword arm back at her.

"oh…SHIT."

She had managed to catch the sword between her palms, but that wasn't what worried the two of them. Sailing through the air towards them was a trio of ants. It only took one look to know that these ants were definitely not normal. The normal pieres, andres, and deniros were about the size of a small puppy at best. These creatures were about the same size as a small wagon and their jaws looked like they could snap up a peco in half.

The two of them quickly rolled aside, evading the ants' first attempt at bisecting them. Arca tried to stab at one of them as they landed, but before his sword could find its mark the ants were underneath the sand again. Hashtis' hands crackled with lightning and soon bolts were striking the ground all around them. "Lightning ward, really damn hard to keep it up but it'll stop them from burrowing underneath us. Let's get the hell out of here before the myrmidons decide its time for another pass." Arca nodded and the two of them quickly ran through the desert towards the pass that should have lain in the north.

As they ran, Arca noticed that the mounds stalking them were gone, but his sense of bad luck nagged at him and he shouted at Hashtis as they continued to flee. "Ants…do they still work in packs?" The priestess nodded and fired off another thunder bolt. "We must have encountered a scouting party, last time we ran through here I caught sight of a hunting party chasing down an unfortunate pack of desert wolves." The thought of ants chasing down wolves was enough to give him a chill down his spine. Then he stopped cold anyways, just as the path leading out was in sight.

A colossal monster stood blocking the path; it looked like an ant that had somehow managed to stand upright. Besides the two legs that somehow managed to support its massive bulk, the other four legs were long sharpened blades. And that did not account for its jaws, easily as large as Baphomet's crescent scythe. Arca gulped and slowly walked to the side, hoping the creature had not seen him.

"Intruder detected. Proceeding with elimination." The creature fell flat on its six legs and a massive wave of sand rushed at them. Both Arca and Hashtis dropped to the ground as the wave passed right over them. Now covered in a layer of sand, Arca made to rise, but Hashtis' arm kept him lying down on the ground. The ground seemed to shudder and Arca realized why there was no sense in standing up.

They were directly beneath the creature, which was now stomping in frustration as it tried to root out the tiny critters lying beneath the sand. Sooner or later, the little creatures would have to come up to breathe and it was content to wait until they did…or died.

And it was right. Arca had been finding it harder and harder to breathe, for with every breath more of the sand threatened to rush into his mouth. He took to breathing once every minute, but even then he found it was soon practically impossible to breathe. With his last breath he burst out of the sands and thrust his sword upwards. The sword struck true and an intense vibration rang down his arm, numbing it entirely.

Then it shattered.

Looking incredulously at the hilt he still held, Arca did the only thing he could think of. He leapt on top of the massive ant and hung on as the creature ran rampant through the desert. He noticed that Hashtis had also burst free from the sand and was running towards the exit. Without him.

Arca growled and yanked on the ant's antennae, pulling until the creature would turn to face the exit. It caught sight of Hashtis as well and accelerated, scuttling over the desert sands towards the exit. Arca watched in nervous anticipation as they hurried towards the fleeing priestess. He carefully took hold of other antennae and just as the creature was about to snap its jaws shut he yanked both up into the air.

The creature nearly broke his eardrums with an earsplitting whistling sound as it collapsed to the ground senseless. Arca did not need a second warning as he ran towards the path, where Hashtis was still running. The priestess gave him a grin when he caught up.

"You know, I think you fight better without a sword and shield than when you do fight with a sword and shield, Arca." He gave her a disparaging glance and pushed her through the open field. Until at last, Prontera lay in sight. The ancient capital of Rune Midgard, the primordial bastion of mankind.

Now lay in ruins, with its southern castle wall completely torn down. Arca let out a gasp of shock as he continued to walk towards the city. Suddenly the scenery in front of him changed and he found himself in a different world…

_He was still in Prontera, and the city was in all of its glory. A glory overrun by demons as the Demon Fly's legions swarmed through the city, slaughtering indiscriminately. Arca was standing close to the royal palace, though he actually wanted to be in the city itself, fighting the waves of demon that poured on against the human defenders. He watched in agony as the human defenders died like weeds to the demons. Despite all of their tactical planning, despite their resolve, the humans died nevertheless._

_But the humans were not the only thing that was stalling the advance of the demons, and Arca watched as other monsters joined the fray. Turtles fighting demons…machines fighting demons…the undead fighting demons…it was this united front that gave them chance they would not have had alone. Out of the corner of his eye, Arca caught a flicker of motion, then a rain of thunder showered over him and his fellow paladins, and all of them fell to the ground…and he fell into darkness._


	2. Chapter 2 A Conflict of Times

**Chapter 2 – A Conflict of Times**

"His wounds aren't severe, but I can't find any way to remove that curse seal." A male voice, rough, and sounding like it came from an old man.

"It can't be helped…but his memory won't get any better at this rate. I think he's forgotten us already." A woman's voice, light and cheerful, he seemed to remember it from before, though he knew not where.

"Well, he's the only one that would know the location of the Army now…we need to figure it out, did you get anything out of the people at Morocc, Hashtis?" _The Army…_ He seemed to recognize the phrase, though he could not tell where he had heard it before.

"Nothing at all, the Army seemingly vanished before we got there; I'm guessing there's been another surprise deployment. But seven thousand men gone in a day….that's rather hard to believe…and I couldn't find any trails either. No traces of where they went." The woman again, her voice made him remember a priestess, a thunderbolt, and a long struggle into the night.

Arca decided to get out of bed after the two stopped talking. Whatever they had said about his memory was right, he had no clue as to how he had gotten where he was, but looking out the window, he knew this was Prontera. He was inside the inn that overlooked the fountain at the town square. Before a statue representing Odin had been placed there. Now it lay shattered, the lance floating in the waters, the figure lying in fragments besides.

He found a suit of full plate and other equipment in the storage cabinet besides the bed and quickly put them on. Whoever had given him lodging had also given him other life necessities and Arca quickly performed the necessary acts of hygiene before leaving the room. Walking into the inn's common room, he found nobody of interest and made to leave, but a hand placed on his shoulder stopped him.

Arca turned around and found a fist sending him into the wall. In an instant he had a claymore in his hand, but the man who had punched him, a lord knight, had merely a grin on his face, Suddenly Arca realized who it was and he bowed, sheathing his sword. "Knight Commander Xane. Forgive my impudence to draw sword upon you." The lord knight laughed and waved the matter aside.

"Have you heard, Arca? The remaining paladins have opted to leave Prontera and head for Al de Baran." Arca cast the lord knight a look of alarm but the lord knight merely shrugged. "Prontera is no longer the holy city; even now we struggle to reclaim it. You know full well the threat of the golden horde, or have you managed to forget?" An uneasy look fell on Arca's face and the knight commander assumed that the paladin had forgotten.

"By the day, Prontera is overrun by the remnant insects after the golden thief bug's destruction. By night, we find ourselves fighting undead, their spirits blessed by that wretched bug. But you've been away for far too long, perhaps you really have forgotten afterall." Arca shrugged and took up a plate of breakfast as he sat down to eat. "Knight Commander, you know full well the curse lay upon me. I forget what I would not and remember little of what I need. So tell me, how fares the populace?"

Xane scoffed at the word "populace" and gestured at the soldiers within the common room. "We are the populace, Arca. The civilians have fled to Al de Baran while we fight desperately against the growing horde. If the paladins are to leave…we might as well give up the defense altogether." Arca nodded as he took another bite from the sandwich. "What of the Paladin Commander? Has he said anything of motives?"

Xane shrugged and pointed at Arca's hair. "You know, last time we met your hair was cropped and streaked blue was it not? Did you have a change in fashion?" Arca laughed while shaking his head. "Rather, I got lazy taking care of it and the streaks must have faded in my journeys. But that shrug tells me little, what did the Paladin Commander say?" Xane gestured at the door. "Go ask him yourself, I don't feel like getting furious in the morning." The rest of breakfast was finished in silence and Arca quickly took his leave, heading towards the paladin headquarters.

Which he found had been relocated into the palace. Entering he found that the guards had been replaced by crusaders and paladins, and at the throne was the Paladin Commander himself. For one thing, he definitely did not look regal. The man had always been short, and sitting on the throne with his feet barely touching the ground did not help his image. Furthermore, the crown on his head did not seem to fit and even though he looked regale enough in the royal robes, something screamed to Arca that having the Commander on the throne was out of place.

A spear struck the back of his legs and Arca fell to the ground on one knee. "Bow to your king, commoner." The spear retracted and lay with its point aimed at Arca's neck, so he bowed reluctantly, "My lord, what is the meaning of this? Fifteen years ago I left on a mission, now I come back to find you on the throne?" The spear edged towards his neck menacingly, and the man on the throne did nothing to stop it.

"Arca, you know full well the populace need a leader, and in our desperate times, I took charge and did my duty to lead. Would you rather have the Overlord of the Army walk into Prontera unhindered?" Arca shook his head and the man continued. "You will refer to me as King, and as King I command you to head into Lighthalzen. From my reports, it would seem that the Overlord has been last seen there. If you are to find him, report back immediately and attempt to subdue him. Understood?"

Arca nodded, and the spear pushed him to his feet. "Dismissed. Have one of the priestesses in the city warp you to Yuno, I see little reason for you to delay by heading through Al de Baran." Before Arca could ask anything about the paladin's collective relocation he was lead away from the throne room at spear point and found himself outside the castle once again. _There's…definitely been a lot of changes. _The words of that "king" still on his mind, he quickly headed off to the Prontera Church.

Church was the wrong word to describe it. Arca found himself literally standing outside a brothel frequented by men of all professions and even from the street he could hear noises that were definitely not befitting of a church. Warily he made his way towards the entrance, but a hand roughly pulled him off of the main road, and the same female voice he had heard earlier while half asleep spoke into his ear.

"I think there's been one too many changes while we were traveling, Arca." _Hashtis…_Somehow he felt relieved that he actually remembered her and he followed her into a back alley. "What's happened Hashtis, you always knew more than I did. What's happened to the city?" The high priestess frowned as she recounted what she had learned from an old paladin, the same one she had been talking to earlier.

"Clement told me that the order's gone corrupt. The current King is a despot, but his little group is powered by something sinister and by the day, the corruption spreads. Already the church has been influenced. The paladins moving to Al de Baran are under the orders of the King, I fear for the city. But they wouldn't be the only ones affected." Arca nodded and moved them deeper into the alley as a paladin walked by, dragging a priestess along with him.

"The King sent me on another foray, this time up to Lighthalzen. He told me to go find a priestess to send me to Yuno, but what's the quickest way we can get there?" Hashtis quickly tied her blond mane into a ponytail and pulled out a blue gem from her robes. "I can warp us either to Yuno, or to Glast Heim. I prefer the second method." By the wary look Hashtis got from Arca she realized his discomfort. "The Dark Lord is dead and if we sail from Glast Heim north we'll be able to enter Lighthalzen via the water channels, undetected. If the King did indeed say for you to go to Yuno…somehow I think using an alternative method would suit us more."

Arca could not help but agree. Noises of struggle and copulation reached his ears, and both he and Hashtis looked out of the alley to see the paladin in an awkward position over the priestess. "We can kill him now, can't we, Hashtis." She nodded but pulled him back into the alley. "No sense in stopping the willing. We've got other business to attend to than to stop a pair of lovers." Arca could not help but give the scene another glance, then he felt a dull jerking sensation and suddenly, he found himself inside a dungeon he wished he did not recognize.

Hashtis quickly gestured for him to follow her as she led him through the underground prison and surprisingly enough, though Arca could see a lot of monsters peering out from the darkness, none of them bothered to attack. It even seemed like some of the monsters were bowing as Hashtis and Arca walked by. _Am…I really that intimidating…_ Soon the two of them were nearing the exit of the prisoner, when Hashtis suddenly stopped and looked at an iron maiden hanging broken on the wall.

"You know…did we really have to…" He was about to ask if they truly had to spawn inside the second floor of the underground prison when Hashtis suddenly started rearranging the pieces of the Iron Maiden, fixing it with a series of rough punches and whacks. Five minutes and a lot of awful staring from Arca later, she stepped back to admire her "handiwork". Arca suddenly bit back his question and headed for the door.

When Hashtis rejoined him on the first floor of the prison, he made a light prod at what had just happened. "You like fixing torture devices much?" He knew she was a perfectionist…but a priestess that knew had to fix torture devices was a bit much. She smiled at him and continued to lead the way. "It was my part time hobby, what can I say? I trained here for far too long, Arca my dear." He noticed she almost had a light hop in her step. _Happy about all the wrong things…I get the worst partner for my missions…_

While he was troubled over her choice of a warp, the two of them definitely found little trouble walking through the ancient castle. In fact, no monster hindered them all the way through the prison and even the raydrics kept a respectful distance when the two passed. It was not until they reached the door to the outside that they found an obstacle.

A bloody full plate complete with ornamental spikes, a sword as long as Arca was tall, blazing fires for eyes, Arca simply could not believe his sheer lack of luck when he looked at the Bloody Knight, standing proudly at the door of the castle. He was hoping that the Bloody Knight would respect the unspoken ceasefire that had been up all this while, but again, his luck would not have it so.

A meteor smashed the ground in front of him and Arca pulled back nervously. Beside him, Hashtis' arms crackled with lightning and she gestured towards the door. "I'm going to play decoy while you run from the door alright? The boat will be at the docks, once you get outside, turn right, run to the northwest corner of the castle until you see the docks, and wait for me there." Arca gave her a doubting look, but then he saw the lightning in her eyes and he ran for it, somehow reassured that she would be able to flee successfully. As he ran past the Bloody Knight, it made no attempt to cleave him apart and he continued to run, all the while hoping that Hashtis would be safe. _I mean…if she throws a couple teleports she should make it out fine…_

Teleport was the last thought on her mind as Hashtis calmly approached the Bloody Knight, lightning no longer in her arms. "It's been a long time, tin head." Katzbalger flew forward and she neatly sidestepped the thrust. "Ten years, hasn't it been, you lunk of steel?" The blade turned and attempted to bisect her, but she flipped neatly on the blade body and rolled off. "Ugh, that's so disgusting, why do you never bother cleaning your blade?"

The overhead cleave she managed to avoid, but the shockwave from the ground sent her flying a ways back. "So what's your plan now, you bloody knight wannabe?" Its next cleave took off the wall behind her and she quickly ran past him towards the door. Then finally it spoke, its cold metallic voice stopping her from leaving.

"Nine years and seven months, Hashtis. I see you haven't killed that petty boy yet. Unlike you, my forays in Rune Midgard have amassed me an army." The priestess frowned as pivoted, avoiding yet another thrust of the blade. "The Lord of Death is dead. So is the Dark Lord. There is no need for an army." Its laugh sounded like a pair of graters grinding against each other and she barely managed to dodge a vertical chop. "You know even as you say it that you're lying to yourself, Hashtis. Another Lord of the dead walks in life, Beelzebub is merely asleep besides something greater, and the Valkyrie Host is led by another. There is complete need for an army, if only for survival."

Hashtis grinned as she caught the Bloody Knight's blade between her palms. "So, the former lords died to pave way for the new generation, how ironic. What of the human upstart?" He wrested his blade from her grasp and smashed it down, blocked barely by a Kyrie Eleison cast at the last second. "The human upstart is a threat. But we all now know better than to underestimate the humans, he will be the first to die." Hashtis ducked as the Bloody Knight swiped again, this time cleaving the entrance open and she took it as her cue to leave.

Giving the creature a quick wave and a grin, she quickly ran out into the courtyard, barely dodging the meteors that followed her in pursuit. When she reached the boat, she noticed Arca letting out a sigh of relief and grinned to herself before grabbing him in a hug. "Glad I'm alive?" Arca nodded briefly and she quickly pushed both of them onto the boat. "Sail due north, good paladin, and we should reach Lighthalzen in half a day. Make it fast, I did not kill the Bloody Knight." He took her up on that and quickly shoved the boat off, not noticing that she gave the castle one last glance

Back in the castle, the Bloody Knight looked at the small ship in the distance and smiled. The human paladin was proving himself useful after all…with him around Hashtis was effectively…preoccupied. He strolled back along the castle halls, towards a place deep underground where ancient machinery continued to grind away…and watched as another suit of bloody armor became animate…

"We've hesitated for long enough…now is the time to begin. Once more…"


	3. Chapter 3 A Stalking Past

**Chapter 3 – A Stalking Past**

On the open sea, Arca finally had time to ask Hashtis what was happening. Thankfully his memory was better today than before, but by now it was afternoon and he feared that he would once again forget everything in due time if he did not ask now. So to begin, he immediately drilled Hashtis on how she had managed to survive.

"I ran and teleported. What did you expect me to do, fight until that thing retreated? Don't be silly. What are we to do the moment we hit Lighthalzen?" Arca stopped rowing as they struck a current pushed them quickly on their course. "That King believes that the Overlord is at Lighthalzen, doing what, I can't be sure. But whatever it is, we're to either apprehend him, or kill him." Hashtis mused over the idea of fighting the "Overlord".

"He's not called the Overlord for nothing, Arca, certainly you can't expect to win against his army with just a paladin and a priestess." Arca nodded and sat down to think as Lighthalzen slowly appeared in the distance. "Hmm…we'll need to figure out all of this from its root. I can sense a major conspiracy, but I don't know where it begins and where it ends. The last time we visited Lighthalzen…the last time…ugh, what happened the last time we visited Lighthalzen?"

Hashtis sighed and smacked Arca's head with the oar. "We got ambushed and kicked out of the city. I'm not going to go into the details, but we're taking the covert route with good reason." Arca nodded in agreement though he had none of those memories himself. _Trust the woman to remember these things…_ As the current stilled he stood up to row again and this time, Hashtis was the one to ask the questions.

"What do you remember, Arca? Before the curse strikes you again, I want to know more. I mean, I'm pretty much your memory added on top of my own. Tell me what you know of the Overlord." The way she said it seemed to trigger some sort of memory in his mind and Arca teetered as a series of images struck him. "Red hair…golden eyes…black armor…a lord knight…a paragon of lord knights…nigh unstoppable in single combat…killed Eddga when everybody else was nearly dead…fought a Valkyrie with his bare hands…something…something about Einbroch." He fell silent, unable to recall any more.

Hashtis frowned but took the details to heart anyways. "Well…now we know what he looks like…we know there's no way we can beat him…and we know that our next clue should be in Einbroch, something you've apparently failed to mention in the fifteen years we wandered Rune Midgard." Arca shrugged haplessly and pointed to the city walls, now in clear view. "Last time you asked I remembered even less, not to mention we were never actively hunting for him during the first five years."

The two of them fell silent as Arca guided them slowly towards a hole in the wall, but before he sailed the little boat in, Hashtis gestured for him to stop and back away, urgently. He quickly pushed the boat far from the wall and rowed backwards. As if to match his motion, a sudden wave of black water surged out from the hole, an oozing layer on top of the ocean water. He looked at it in disgust, but Hashtis urged him to start rowing again. She explained as they entered the hole.

"Black tide…rotting bodies in the water mixed with alchemy does this…we won't have long on this boat, let's find a place to dock before the putrid water starts leaking in." He nodded and docked them up against a lantern and as both of them got off, they spied a door nearby. Another surge of water overwhelmed the boat as they reached the door and Arca could hear the wooden sizzle and crack as the water pooled inside it. "Well, that just effectively cut off our escape path."

Hashtis nodded but gestured for him to fall silent and he did, following her lead until they found themselves in a small room with an open window to the city. The sounds of combat outside already made Arca groan inwardly. He looked outside with Hashtis and his jaw nearly dropped when he saw the black garbed soldiers…and the ghostly figures they were fighting.

"That can't be…they're the biological laboratory's inhabitants…freed." Hashtis had a grim look on her face as she led Arca away from the window. "They'll win the battle, the inhabitants are endless, and our business is elsewhere." He followed the priestess until she came to a manhole in the slums district. For some reason he knew that this was the entrance to another place, but he could not place where that place was. Thankfully, Hashtis was courteous enough to brief him.

"Effectively now, you're following me. If we need to get to the heart of the matter, you can be sure that the man we're seeking is inside the laboratory now. The moment we're inside it's considered a battlefield, so don't let your guard down, alright?" He nodded and drew his blade, following the priestess through a network of pipes and corridors until finally; they came out inside the dusty laboratory.

Hashtis peered around the corner cautiously as she heard the clashing of swords and saw a knight fighting a shadowy equivalent. But naturally, the human man was less experienced and less able, she watched as the man stumbled on an uneven part of the floor then his hands were gone. The human screamed but his opponent had moved on. She quickly gestured for Arca to run in and he did, with her quickly following.

"Do you still remember how to go in deeper, Arca?" He shook his head but pointed at a weathered sign on the wall. "It says, down is that way. So let's go that way." Ignoring the band of Lighthalzen clones that were chasing after them, the two of them ran until they could see the elevator that led down. But there was no time to wait for an elevator, Hashtis quickly pulled on the paladin's full plate and dragged the two of them into the abyss besides, plummeting down towards the third…and final floor.

_"Commander Criar, the fighting has spread into the palace; do we move in to assist?" He was back in Prontera again, and the fighting had grown to all new level of desperation. The leaders in the battle had left the city, but the hosts remained and the armies continued to fight nonetheless. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a succubus bound against the wall, but he paid the demon little notice, other demons were pressing up against him._

_A lord knight beside him was fighting, his sword whipping about like a hurricane as he shredded the enemies in sight. Arca marveled at the sight of the lord knight, his red hair flying about as he worked himself into a frenzy, those golden eyes burning with an intense fire. The paladin felt his own arms move in response, he mowed down more of the demonic host that rose up against him. _

_Then the street was empty and the demonic host had backed away, opting for other paths into the castle. The lord knight turned to him with a grin on his face. "Arca, I think we've done pretty well for-" Arca did not hear what the lord knight said, as dark clouds rolled in above them and thunder and lightning came crashing down, knocking him senseless…_

An explosion knocked him to his senses and Arca quickly scrambled to stand up, and then found himself surrounded by a group of clones. Except these ones were not simple archers and thieves. He found himself facing lord knights, high priestesses, high wizards and the more advanced gathering. He looked at all of them nervously, but none of them bothered to give him little more than looks of derision or distaste.

Then even as he spied out Hashtis sitting in a corner with a high wizard beside her, he realized it. They had given him…looks with expression. He was about to turn back when a lord knight familiar pushed him over to Hashtis before depositing him on a chair and leaving. The priestess gave him a bemused smile and gestured at the high wizard sitting beside her.

"May I introduce the legendary Kate Keyron? Survivor of the battle outside Prontera's fields, one of the few remaining in this realm." He gave the high wizard familiar a stunned look, but as if to stupefy him more, the high wizard broke out laughing and extended a hand for him to shake. "Hello there." Her voice was eerily warm, not at all befitting her translucent body. And even more peculiar was her hand, corporeal enough to shake, and warm to the touch.

"I uhh…nice to…you…yeah….meet you…" She giggled at his stuttering but turned serious when another explosion occurred. "I'm sorry, I'd love to talk, but we're currently fighting the monster." By her emphasis on the word monster he knew exactly what she was talking about and drew out his blade, at once regaining his composure. "Lead the way then, I have a mission regarding this monster of yours."

They could see the explosions long before they could see the man, but he was definitely there. A trio of lord knight familiars and a sextet of mastersmith familiars were fighting him evenly, but the man showed no signs of tiring. Hashtis gave Arca a slight nudge. "He looks familiar…do you think that…" Arca shook his head, for the man had already caught sight of him and there was the grin that Arca had seen time and time again.

"It's been a while, buddy. Have you joined these people in fighting me?" Arca frowned. _Definitely as whimsical as before…his name…his name…I can't recall it…damn. _"Why are you fighting these people?" The man laughed as if the answer should have been obvious. "Why shouldn't I be, Arca? Mythical creatures were meant to be killed, human creations aren't exempted, and I grow stronger for every one that dies." It was hard to believe, but all the while the man had been keeping his aggressors at bay.

And now with a gesture the ground exploded and all of his attackers flew away. He walked towards Arca, ignoring the arrows and spells that struck against him harmlessly. "Arca…strength is attained by sacrifices. Was it not you who told me to be strong? Now I even have a title…the Overlord. I will attain strength." Arca drew his blade and walked up to the Overlord, who kept his sword at his side, mirroring Arca's posture. Arca looked into those golden eyes and found the same fire that had inspired him for so many battles…those eyes were now staring him down, provoking him to strike. "You've gotten rather bold haven't you…you never know when someone might cut you down to size."

"You would fight me, Commander Criar?" Arca frowned and shook his head, but the Overlord responded with a overhead chop, barely blocked. "If you aren't out to fight me, then why block? Are you still sticking to your concepts of peaceful resolution? I see that woman is still here." Ignoring the man's comments, Arca could see his blade slowly being bitten into and he lashed out with his left fist, allowing the Overlord's blade to cleave harmless into the ground even as his punch sent the man flying back a couple feet. "You're still strong…it's been…20 years…so peculiar…how many of the immortals have you killed?" Arca shook his head and gestured with his hand. "Gloria Domini." Behind him he heard Hashtis gasp, but he paid her little mind. The blow would sap the Overlord of his energy.

At once the mark on his neck flared and the cross that he had expected to fall on the Overlord did not appear. Instead, a devilish fork impaled the man, who merely laughed in response. He pulled out the fork from his body and tossed it aside, a look of realization in his eyes. "Your power…you're no paladin anymore, Arca…that's why…haha, now I see." Even as Arca looked inexplicably at the fork pierced into the ground, the man was approaching him with his sword raised. "Plagued by a demon…Arca…I shall release you, as you did for me."

On instinct along Arca reached out for the fork and it flew back at him, fitting comfortably in his hand. The Overlord thrust forth with his blade and Arca felt the blade cleaving into his right arm, disabling it even as he thrust the fork into the man's chest. The familiars had no sense of the silly human concept of "chivalry" and they attacked the Overlord, arrows, spells, and blades biting into him as one. Another explosion sent everyone flying away, including Arca, who fell to one knee as he struggled to remain conscious.

The Overlord fell back, pulling out his sword, with the prongs of the wicked fork still embedded inside him. But on his face was an expression of mad glee, and he tore the fork out of his chest, at the same time gesturing towards the roof. "Arca…strong…definitely…the next time we meet…I will give you a lovely present…a train ticket to salvation." A beam of light struck through the roof where the Overlord pointed and it enveloped him, whisking the human away before anything else happened.

Arca collapsed as Hashtis ran up to him, her eyes immediately gazing over his wounded arm and applying the necessary healing magic. Behind her Kate was organizing for the high priestesses to return to the front lines, and the last thing he knew was Hashtis lifting him off of the ground towards one of the beds nearby… He fell into unconsciousness, his last thought an effort to remember all that had happened, to remember his encounter with that man…the Overlord.


	4. Chapter 4 Burn My Dread, Accumulation

**Chapter 4 – Burn My Dread – Part I**

"A second cataclysm? It's highly possible." Arca found that he still shuddered at the thought of the high wizard familiar seemingly actually human. Unfortunately, it seemed that not only did Kate seem human, she was familiar with all of the mannerisms one would expect from a young teenage girl and capable of expressing them expertly. At the moment she was smirking at him, undoubtedly having noticed his discomfort over her supposed humanity.

Hashtis was discussing the situation with the other familiars. For some reason, she seemed to be on close terms with them, and more disturbingly, the familiars seemed to be on somewhat close terms with him, even though he did not recognize them at all. They only gave him knowing glances after Hashtis whispered something to them all.

"Our forces have been sundered after the first cataclysm, we're a shadow of what we were prior, and Athne has left with most of our comrades." The High Priestess's voice was silky and the accusing glance she threw at Arca while she said her line made him feel like he had violated her or something similar. He quickly looked away at the next person that spoke, the Assassin Cross Eremes.

"No version of me exists that has seen the cataclysm. But from what I assess of the situation, our greatest threat is this human, who has seemingly managed to absorb the powers of the other immortals. We need to contact the other immortals and make haste in destroying this threat." Arca looked at him troubled. "There has to be a way to resolve this without him dying." Erenes gave him a doubtful look. "This man…he's like my brother. I can't remember every trace of him, but I know that I can't bear to see him die."

Hashtis walked over and gave him a slap across the face before returning to her seat. "Your brother is here killing people. Don't be so goddamned selfish. Besides, camaraderie won't do you any good when he's obviously going to kill you the next time he sees you." Arca looked away from the priestess, but the lord knight familiar laid his hand on Arca's shoulder. "Look, we've heard about your memory problem…and we've got a way for you to get out of it. But…Arca…seeing as we were drinking buddies once, lemme tell you something. You might not want to know…like, what you know. You get what I mean?"

He did not, but he nodded anyways and Kate stood up, leading all of them out of the room into a laboratory space. "Arca. We'll be putting you unconscious for about three days or so, in that time we'll be treating you to remove that curse. After that…well, we'll see what happens, but if it works, we'll put you up to date with all that's happened so far." He nodded and stepped into the open tank that she gestured into. Immediately a gas knocked him unconscious, and they all watched as he slumped to the bottom of the tank. Kate pressed a series of buttons and the tube rocketed away to another part of the laboratory.

The high wizard familiar sighed as she watched everybody disband. The invaders had been processed, but her mind was more concerned with the paladin. In his memories lay something apparently crucial, though the high wizard had no idea what it could be. And apparently, nobody else knew either. Too many had left since the end of the Cataclysm.

Hashtis walked with her outside of the laboratory onto Lighthalzen's city streets. Finding a coffee shop, the two of them decided they still had some time to reminisce over the past. "It's been twenty long years Kate, what happened after Athne left?" Swirling a cup of latte, another human habit she had taken up, the high wizard slowly thought back to all that had happened.

"We never truly became a nation. The Cataclysm united all of us out of necessity. But after everything had settled, we found that…we kinda liked working together, so we began to work on new plans, instead of just haunting the laboratory." A pair of Kavach clones passed and bowed to the pair respectfully. "The original citizens of the city, the wealthy people who our like repulsive, we drove them out or we assimilated them." She watched as Hashtis nodded and continued on.

"It wasn't long until we wanted to find more people to accompany us. And…I don't mean…making more of our base type clones…" Realization dawned on Hashtis and she thought of all the tanks she had seen back on the third floor. "You're experimenting with all of the other classes as well…have you been successful?" The high wizard shook her head sadly. "Before you came, before the Overlord's Army came in, I was planning on making a trip to Yuno. But I heard that they've been under siege from the Army, and that the man I was seeking had taken a trip towards the holy city of Rachel, or rather, the Ice Caves around there." Hashtis knew what was coming even before the high wizard said it.

"I'll go with you then Kate…I trust we'll be back within three days?" Kate smiled and nodded. "I hope so and besides, even if we aren't, if the treatment is successful Arca will come out feeling entirely at home. Besides you, I'll be asking another Magaleta copy to come with us, just in case it's necessary for us to return here quickly." Hashtis nodded and found herself slightly hesitant. _If the treatment is successful…he'll feel at home…and he'll remember everything…including some things I don't want him to remember…_


	5. Chapter 5 Burn My Dread, Culmination

**Chapter 5 – Burn My Dread – Part II**

By afternoon, Hashtis, Kate, and a "Margaretha" found themselves walking through the pleasant forests on the outskirts of Lighthalzen. Unlike the fields outside Prontera, which were still ravaged and lifeless after Beelzebub's undead horde had swept through it, Lighthalzen's surrounding grasslands remained healthy and lively.

But naturally the peaceful image was a mere façade, as Hashtis realized twenty minutes into walking. A small buzzing sound was coming from the bushes and the further they walked the louder it grew. The Margaretha looked nervously at Kate, who looked back at Hashtis, who looked in turn at the bushes around them and steered them towards an open clearing.

"Anopheles. Annoying pests, Kate, would you mind doing the favor?" The high wizard nodded and instantly a blizzard raged around them, showering them with snowflakes and frost as its intensity increased. Three minutes later, they left the clearing and walked back into the quiet trail once more. It was along the way that Hashtis noticed the Margaretha had been giving her queer glances for a good half hour. She would have ignored it, but the Margaretha suddenly walked into a low drooping branch, too preoccupied with Hashtis to notice the obstacle.

As Kate continued to walk on, Hashtis helped the familiar up and walked with her to catch up to Kate. "I take it you're curious about something?" The familiar nodded and turned slightly opaque, the closest she would come to blushing, and reached out a hand hesitantly at Hashtis's waist. "I…you…you're not…you have…such…" Hashtis gave the familiar a quizzical look before poking at the familiar's waist. "What, you wanna tell me my waist is unnaturally thin? Because it really isn't you know, I'm just wearing a corset underneath my robes."

The familiar gave her a puzzled look and Hashtis sighed. _Trust these guys not to know what a corset is…honestly. _She pulled the familiar in closer and guided her hands. "Now do you see?" The familiar nodded at her, wide eyed. "Doesn't it hurt?" Hashtis shook her head and sped up the pace, Kate was starting to walk unnaturally fast. "I've gotten used to it, not to mention I eat an unnaturally large amount. The corset isn't actually that tight, you should see what some other people tighten these things to."

In all honesty, the familiar did not want to see it at all. She smiled nervously and edged towards Kate. "Are you sure it's safe to have her around?" The high wizard laughed and waved her hand in a careless manner. "Of course, you're looking at one of the Cataclysm's survivors over there." The Margaretha looked at her incredulously and Hashtis gave her a smile with a short wave in return. A long silence ensued between the three of them, until they were in sight of Rachel's grasslands.

At first sight of them, the Margaretha literally squealed in excitement, and the other two watched stupefied as the high priestess familiar took to chasing after a roween nearby. The little hyena creature, sensing that the high priestess was definitely not what she looked like, attempted to flee but to no avail. When they resumed their trek through the grasslands, it was with one extra unwilling member in their party. The high priestess familiar was happily holding onto the poor hyena by its forearms and spinning it around callously as she walked.

The poor creature squealed until Kate finally managed to convince herself that for her sanity the Margaretha would need to let the creature go. So after a great deal of storm gusts, meteor storms, and angry words later, the Margaretha waved sadly at the little roween as it teetered away, its sense of balance completely shot. Again their trek resumed in silence, though Hashtis felt a little bit sorrier for the familiar, who walked with her head down like a little child who had been reprimanded too much by their parents.

The roween probably made it home ok, because they caught sight of no wildlife after that.

By midday they made it to the field due east of Rachel…and that was when they realized something was dreadfully wrong. Normally the field would have been like all of the others, with wildlife wandering all over. The moment they walked from the path into the field however, they realized from all of the burning stakes, the dead corpses, and the white masks that they had most likely stepped into some sort of bloody field turned ritual ground.

"This…doesn't look very happy to me." Kate inspected one of the stakes and took to thinking. Meanwhile, Hashtis and Margaretha surveyed the field with growing anxiety. "You know, seeing as we have a slight chance of getting into a fight, and by slight of course I mean minimal, and seeing as I'm sure I should have acquainted with you better, is there any sort of name you might want to go by? Like, to remember you by?" The familiar swallowed down the dread that was growing inside her and nodded.

"Call me Mary. Write it on my grave. Preferably chain a roween next to it." Hashtis nodded. "I'll remember that. Is it just me….or is there some sort of massive force coming at us?" Mary nodded her head and Kate snapped out of thought. The three of them reached the same conclusion instantaneously and run for it. Whatever was emanating that aura could feel them as well, as it suddenly changed in direction, determined to fall onto an intercept course.

As she ran, Kate took to flinging off random storm gusts and for a moment she felt relieved that the creature stopped to weave around the storm gusts she cast. Her relief did not last long, as the creature apparently got frustrated of avoiding the storm gusts and simply took to running straight through them. Desperation made her change the ground behind her into a swampy field with quagmire and layering storm gusts on top of that seemed to delay the creature for a good minute or so.

That minute was all they needed to get inside the ruined airship station. Hashtis wasted no time in dragging a large steel bench over to obstruct the door while Mary spied out some cover. The three of them huddled behind the ticket gate as they felt the aura pull closer and closer. "Do you think…now would be a good time to go back to Lighthalzen, guys?" Mary looked at the two beside her and realized escape was out of the question. Kate looked at her like she was an unknowing little child. "Atroce never did return to these fields. He left with one of the otherworldly beings along with Ifrit, Ktullanux and Gloomundernight. We need to know at least what's prowling these fields." As soon as she said it she felt Hashtis poke at her. "It's here."

It was a massive lion human hybrid. It stood at least nine foot tall, powerful muscles rippling all over its feline body. Unlike the ant creature Hashtis and Arca had encountered, this being's legs looked like they could hold up bridges, with every step they showed no signs of strain at all, every muscle flexing effortlessly. "He's a meat tank." Hashtis found herself unwittingly whispering it, and the lion's face turned towards them, grinning to reveal a full set of teeth, resembling little daggers.

"Are you admiring me, petty humans?" It flexed its paws, and each paw looked like it could crush a watermelon. Then its claws retracted out and all three of them let out a gasp in awe. Each talon was about the size of a dirk and they shuddered as they realized the reason for all of the bloody corpses in the field outside. "I am the Beast King, Saul. Tell me, what do you see?"

"A Lion?" Margaretha's answer seemed to amuse Saul, as he chuckled lowly and grabbed onto a bench beside him, throwing it at the entrance of the airship station. Effectively it sealed their only path of escape. He pointed one talon at Kate. "Next."

"An immortal?" Saul nodded and sniffed the air. "You three are not normal humans yourselves…it would seem…perhaps I will enjoy this." He flexed his paws and Hashtis glanced at the claws nervously. They pointed at her and she almost closed her eyes in fear. "Next."

"A peaceful lord of the savanna?" They all looked at her incredulously and she shrugged. "It's worth a try, right? You know, maybe you're a peaceful lion who coincidentally walked onto that savanna field out there and found a bunch of shaman who were killing off animals by the dozens so you decided to go slaughter them but really you're a nice lion king who's respectful of other individuals just misunderstood?" Kate was about to smack Hashtis over the head when she suddenly noticed the open eyed look on Saul's face. _She's struck a nerve…I wonder which part was right… _Hashtis gave her a glance and Kate gave her thumbs up behind her back.

An awkward silence fell between Saul and the three of them. The beast king seemed to be deep in thought when he suddenly gestured at all three of them. "Follow." They nodded and he threw the benches aside effortlessly before leading them back out into the savanna. As they walked he explained the presence of the bloody stakes.

"It's the Cult of Freya, I only asserted my role here in the last ten years…but they've been here long before that…and they've been growing more fanatical every year." Kate watched as a small group of Rachel priests walked out of the city, dragging along with them another man. Saul paused, and the four of them watched as the priests casually killed the screaming man, leaving another bloody patch in the field, which they further marked with a stake.

"So every stake…represents a life lost…" Saul nodded. "They don't think of it as lost, they think of it as donated for a greater cause. A greater evil lives inside that wretched palace now, high wizard." Kate thought carefully over the sequence of events. "Gloomundernight's departure from the Sanctuary…must have let another being come in to replace him…" Saul nodded and he stopped, having led the three of them to a cliff overlooking the city. "There are no living men inside that city now. Even those who continue to struggle are dead men."

Kate closed her eyes and sifted through the auras remaining within the city. "The one man I seek remains alive. Hiding in a secluded place, but alive. I must rescue him." Saul's expression did not change as he turned away and walked away from the cliff. "Do what you must. I accept your presences here, immortals." A thought seemed to strike him and he hesitated momentarily before turning to face Mary.

"Oh, and next time, please do not play around with my subjects like that." The high priestess familiar quickly fell to her knees in apology, and by the time she looked up, the Beast King was gone. Hashtis and Kate were both in deep thought. "It's become an extraction mission, Kate. Can you pinpoint where the man is?" The high wizard nodded but a frown remained on her face. "Difficult to access his position. Mary, you will stay here, monitor us but keep your spirit flow controlled. No unnecessary actions until you see us. Hashtis, can you provide a distraction while I get the man out of there?"

Hashtis grinned as lightning arced between her fingers. "Most definitely…leave me the fun part." The two of them grinned at each other and Mary was about to wish them good luck when she realized that they were already gone. The high priestess familiar sat down and played with her fingers nervously…until she saw the unsuspecting roween nearby…

Some urges simply could not be fought.

--

ooc: I'm kinda unhappy that I posted so much stuff so suddenly. If you read to here, or are you reading this at all, thanks, you don't know how much I appreciate it. If you've got any suggestions and whatnot to help me write better, that's even more appreciated. I understand my writing fails, so yeah, it's ok to tell me that bluntly. Any formatting changes that irritate you severe, sure, go ahead, say it out, I might consider it if it's a life and death matter.  
sigh I guess before anybody wants to scream it out loud in anticipation, yes, Hashtis is not a normal high priestess, I know that they don't use wizard magic. I deviate from a normal kRO server's rules. Call me an infidel and burn me. Oh, you'd probably want me on the stake for butchering the Lighthalzen MVPs too. I'll get to explaining more about what happened to everybody else...later.  
Thanks y'all, See You Again.


	6. Chapter 6 Raikiri

**Chapter 6 – Cutting Thunderbolts**

"High wizards definitely are not meant to be stealthy…" Kate grimaced as she hid underneath another fruit stand, watching as a group of priests garbed in white shuffled by. _God…they're awfully slow at moving too… _The moment they passed, she quickly crawled underneath the next stand and made a subconscious check of where her target lay. _Ok…he's still hiding there…good…_ Changing her course slightly, she made way towards a building not so far south, at least directly away from the town square.

The town square, where Hashtis was lounging as she waited for the priests to come close. So far it seemed that she had managed to fool at least a pair of priests with her white garb, but for some reason, her anxiety had struck again. _Honestly…I'll feel better if I can start frying these people…I wonder when they will even notice I'm just lounging here…_ She spied another group of priests ambling towards her and fought the urge to immediately let loose a thunderbolt.

The priests did not move to her, or rather, they could not. She watched as all three of them fell dead on the ground. A loud siren destroyed any vestiges of tranquility remaining in Rachel as black garbed soldiers suddenly appeared from all over the place. Leaping to her feet, Hashtis barely avoided an overeager knight's broad sword, and she shot a bolt of thunder down onto the knight's head, instantly killing him.

The instant she landed she was surrounded, but Hashtis pivoted on her heels, easily avoiding the two as they made an elementary attempt to skewer her. Grabbing two of the knights attacking her by their heads, she sent a thunder bolt running through their bodies and tossed them into the way of the other two knights. By the time those two still alive stood up, Hashtis was gone, running through Rachel attempting to find Kate.

The high wizard was holed up inside one of the local residences when Hashtis burst in through the door, firing off waves of electricity out into the street. She had heard the fighting outside and a quick glimpse into the street told Kate all she needed to know. "He's after another immortal here?"

Hashtis shrugged and looked at the man that was hiding behind Kate. From the wide eyed look on his face he was obviously aware of the situation outside. "He's the one?" Kate nodded and pulled open a window slightly to look outside. A spear suddenly rammed through the window and Kate retaliated in like, casting a storm gust into the open street. Hashtis quickly ran out and shot off another wave of lightning. "Kate, get out of here, I'll cover you. Once you get outside, head for Lighthalzen. Don't stop for anything."

The high wizard nodded and taking the man by his hand, leapt up onto the patio. As she ran, she realized that Hashtis was not following her at all, but she focused instead of making it out of the city. The man in tow seemed to be suffering from shell shock, but Kate ignored the empty look in his eyes as well as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop. _If he survives this he can survive anything…_

With one last leap she landed on a building, within sight of the eastern gate. Kate almost let out a shout of relief. At least she would have, but then she saw "him" standing there with his sword drawn.

The Overlord looked up at her with a smile and swung his blade. Instantly the building beside him and the next building Kate was about to leap to disappeared in a wave of energy. He made another swiping motion, this time directly at her, and Kate did not hesitate to leap straight off of the roof, aiming for the wall a good twenty meters away.

She had avoided the Overlord's aura blade attack with a jump and it seemed like a good idea…at least until she reached the top of her jump…which was when she realized she still had a good fifteen meters to go. Anxiety, dread, and a whole slew of other human emotions suddenly struck the high wizard clone. Whispering a brief prayer, she closed her eyes, already anticipating the sickening crack and painful sensation that she knew was inevitable.

The painful sensation struck her, but she heard no bones crack and Kate ventured to take a peek at what happened. She immediately closed her eyes again as she realized that somehow a current of electricity was propelling her and the man through the air before. For another minute it carried her, before roughly depositing her on the city wall. Looking back, she caught sight of Hashtis standing at the top of a ruined building, maintaining the current for a second longer with both hands.

The high priestess gave Kate the thumbs up before showering the ground with lightning and Kate quickly took it as a cue to run down from the castle walls and outside. Seeing the high wizard make it over the wall, Hashtis grinned and collected the lightning into her hands. Her eyes looked down and caught sight of the Overlord, holding back the troops that wanted to pursue the two that had escaped.

The Overlord looked up at her and smiled, stabbing his blade firmly into the ground. "You can't win Hashtis…though I'll be merciful enough to let you join me." As if to mock the high priestess, he extended an arm up at her, beckoning her to come down with a quick hand gesture.

Hashtis spat from her perch on the roof and raised both hands to the sky, visibly charging the lightning further. "It's a pity I didn't kill you twenty years ago…to think that you could be so troublesome now…" The lightning in her hand focused until it covered her fingers in an aura and she leapt, diving at the Overlord with her hands ready to snatch his throat out.

One brave soldier, eager to save his lord, hurled the spear in his at the falling priestess, but instead of striking her the spear struck some sort of invisible barrier and fell harmlessly to the ground. The soldier watched in growing fear as the Overlord merely drew his blade and moved into a guard stance. "I'll give you one blow, Hashtis. Twenty years ago, you nearly killed me in one blow, so let's see how well you fare now."

Even as he said that her left hand struck his blade and the lightning arced around its obstacle, striking the Overlord directly. The explosion sent him flying back and killed the soldiers that had been standing beside him. Before he could regain his footing properly, Hashtis was in pursuit, the lightning in her right hand crackling as she made to strike. A second's deliberation and he quickly raised his blade, letting it fall as her hand struck the blade's edge. A brilliant flash of light blinded everyone within the vicinity, leaving only a growing dust cloud as it died down. The soldiers immediately gathered around the area, eager to know the conclusion.

From amidst the dust that was starting to gather the Overlord stepped out, his blade broken, his armor shattered, his left hand completely limp. Gesturing with his remaining hand back into the cloud of dust he addressed his second in command. "Xane, take Hashtis and bind her, then give her medical treatment. Make sure the troops know we're leaving this place now. We've got what we wanted."

--

Kate and Mary had nearly made it back to Lighthalzen's surrounding fields when a familiar aura suddenly struck both of them at once. Before either of them could place exactly who it was, Kate was already on the ground in shock, her left arm hanging onto her body by a single strip of muscle and her right arm sheared off completely. Before she blacked out she heard Mary's scream and a bestial roar, then everything fell silent.

All Mary saw was a yellow flash as it struck Kate, and then the high wizard clone was on the ground, her limbs butchered from her body. Immediately she tried to run over and apply healing magic, but before she could, yellow flashed in front of her, and she was suddenly moving all too fast away from Kate, her body dragged by the creature as it ran away.

It was not long before Mary blacked out as well, from the sheer pressure of the creature's horrendous acceleration. The man who had been traveling with them fell onto his knees in shock, and that was how the Assassin Cross Eremes found them. Alarmed by the sight of his elder lying torn apart in the forest, with the blood around her already dried, he quickly gathered her up, pulled the man to his feet and teleported all of them straight into Lighthalzen.

A journey that had barely taken them a day had left their party scattered and dying…

--

Assassin Cross Eremes found himself visiting the place where he had found Kate, along with Seren, one of the lord knight veterans that had survived the first war. Together the two of them were busy looking for clues as to what had happened to the three of them. Three hours worth of searching had only given them a bunch of broken trees, crushed shrubs, and Kate's bloody mark. Perched up in a tree, Eremes watched as Seren picked an apple from out of his satchel and placed it onto the ground.

"What are you doing, Seren?"

The lord knight gestured for him to be quiet and walked into the shrubbery. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. The apple continued to lay on the ground untouched. Seren let out a sigh and picked up the apple before taking a bite out of it.

"Well, that knocks out the idea of an invisible creature doing this."

"Don't talk with your mouth full. Besides, we're immortals, we can detect invisible creatures. From the lack of track marks we know that this thing is either a low flying creature, or extreme agile to the point that it can float over ground when it runs."

Seren nodded and paced around, noticing the light marks that his steel boots left. "Even these things, enchanted to be light, still leave a noticeable mark. Whatever it was came at an extremely high speed and left at that same speed. How's Kate anyways?"

Eremes shook his head and returned to the tree. "Both arms gone, all for this one man, and the best he can do is to think up of useless alchemical processes. He thinks of her as a homunculi or something."

Seren leapt up onto the tree branch, which immediately snapped and sent both of them plummeting to the ground. Giving the irritated Eremes a friendly whack on the back he turned to walk back to Lighthalzen. "Come'on assassin boy, she got him for a reason, Kate won't die until she sees that man do his job, whatever it might be."

Eremes continued to grumble as he walked back to Lighthalzen, thinking of how much more convenient it would be if he had brought a sniper along instead of Seren. _That brainless meat sack…all he's good for is taking down walls and doors…_

The assassin cross did not know how right he was. Were there a sniper within the vicinity, she would have immediately noticed the scent of an animal, perhaps even pinpointed it to one specific animal.

The king of beasts.

_ooc: Thanks Precision Dx. Was it any better this time? I've honestly gotten so used to writing in essay format (the, save space writing format) that I subconsciously place the actions of multiple characters together. Please continue to tell me how I can improve!  
Poor Mary. Or maybe's it's poor Kate. I'm starting to get this love hate relationship with the Lighthalzen cast.  
ANYWAYS, thanks to Precision again for helping me improve my writing, hopefully it's clearer this time than before!_


	7. Chapter 7 Twenty Years Reunion

**Chapter 7 – Twenty Years Ago**

Xane watched nervously as the high priestess Hashtis began to stir. Bound to a pole, she was supposed to be harmless, but he knew better, he had seen Hashtis nearly beat down his commander. His anxiety grew as he watched her begin to struggle against the steel chains that bound her and his hand went for the hilt of his sword as he watched her begin to strain the chains. _How the hell does a high priestess have this much strength…_

"I see our captive is awake and struggling." Xane turned and looked up at his commander, who handed him two servings of rations. "One is for our prisoner here, just put it in front of her, when she breaks free of the chains she'll eat." Xane nodded and did as his commander said, before quickly scrambling back to a safe distance. By now, the high priestess had torn apart two of the six chains that held her back and a third chain was close to breaking.

"Why do we need to keep her anyways, commander? She's a threat to all of us, is she not?" Xane watched as another chain snapped and Hashtis started pulling away from the pole. "…and…may I ask…did you know Hashtis from before, commander?"

The Overlord smiled and nodded, watching in amusement as the high priestess's struggling broke yet another chain. "We should have added a couple more chains while we could, Xane. But Hashtis is necessary for my plans. She is the key to manipulating Arca Criar." Seeing the confusion on Xane's face, the Overlord's smile grew wider. "As to your second question, Xane, yes, I knew Hashtis, before and after she was defeated by Arca."

Before Xane could ask what he had meant by that, Hashtis's feral roar sent him to his feet and he quickly drew out his blade. "Do we fight, commander?" He watched as the high priestess did some stretches before tearing the pole out of the ground, converting it to a makeshift spear. _Maybe I should have phrased it as…can we fight…_

The Overlord stepped forward and extended his hand again. "You've been defeated Hashtis, join me. I would offer you knowledge, knowledge of Arca Criar's status and much more besides." The high priestess seemed to calm down slightly upon hearing the paladin's name and the Overlord took it as a sign to continue.

"You've been unconscious for two days. In that time, my informants in Lighthalzen have told me that Arca Criar walks again, with a new light in his eyes. Our friend has regained his memories, and no doubt he knows now exactly who…or should I say…what, you are." For a moment the high priestess and the lord knight stared at each other, and Xane watched in even more anxiety as lightning started to charge up in the high priestess's hands.

Then the Overlord spoke again. "Why not revert, Hashtis? Are you ashamed to face Arca in your original form?" She charged the pole in her hand with lightning and threw it at him. Reflexively he sidestepped, allowing the spear to tear through the forest, immediately starting a forest fire. "Or are you scared to face him, after you've lied to him for these twenty years, manipulating his amnesia to fool him into believing you're just a helpful high priestess tag along?" The high priestess made to throw another thunderbolt, but the lord knight was faster, batting her hand aside with the hilt of his blade. Another tree caught on fire and started to burn and Xane suddenly found himself scrambling for a way to put out the fires.

The Overlord ignored his subordinate's frantic attempts at stopping the growing forest fire, but he held tightly onto both of the high priestess's hands to stop her from casting. "You're not mute, Hashtis. You're definitely not subservient either, but perhaps if I were to…kill dear Arca…that would change, no?" A burst of wind tore through him, pushing the Overlord back a good twenty meters before dissipating.

Hashtis flexed her arms and looked in surprise at her hair. Normally she kept it cropped short and kept it a light strawberry blond. Now it had grown to her waist and traces of light pink was returning. _Shit…shouldn't have used that spell…my disguise is faltering…_She found the Overlord grinning at her hair and threw another thunder bolt at him, hurtling him back another dozen meters. "The moment you lay a hand on Arca, I will personally kill you, even if it means sacrificing my immortality to do it."

The Overlord rose to his feet and slowly stretched his numbed muscles. "So, you're acknowledging that you're no normal woman, Hashtis?" He watched her nod slightly before sidestepping another thunder bolt. "Really, you can stop throwing those things at me. I am not your enemy by any means." He felt a slight sense of relief as she folded her arms and sat back against one of the trees that the fire had not reached.

"Tell me why I should join you, Vashara. Really, I find little amusement in joining you to hunt immortals and steal their immortality. Human sports don't interest me much." She watched as Xane chopped down another tree before attempting to stomp out the fire on it. "And what's that retard doing with you, when we parted twenty years ago I thought you told Arca and I you would be pulling a one man army stunt?"

Vashara laughed heartily, brushing his hand through his hair as he did so. A few strands fell off and he noticed that their ends were slightly burnt. "You could have spared my hair when you fried me, Hashtis, and really, I prefer you refer to me as the Overlord and not by my name. I mean, I worked pretty hard to get the title, Overlord, you know." A thunder storm suddenly left him standing unscratched in a charred field.

Before she could wave her hand again, he was waving for her to stop, all the while checking if any more of his hair was burnt. "Unlike what Arca and you would believe, I'm on a quest much larger than just hunting for immortals. A holy war is coming and I need your help, Hashtis. You can feel it can't you, Beelzebub is still alive."

The high priestess closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them again, Vashara noticed that her irises had changed from violet to blue. "Yes, the bastard fly is still alive. Dormant, but alive. Don't tell me you think you can kill him." She sighed and shook her head as the Overlord grinned at her.

"Twenty years ago, I knocked you out cold with a single thunderstorm. Arca left me crippled with a grand cross. Beelzebub looked at Arca and that was all it took to take out the Paladin. In the end, we lost most of our immortals, we even needed help from another realm, an entire family of immortals came to our aid. They only managed to kill off Hibram and banish Beelzebub into dormancy. What makes you think you can kill him by yourself?"

He grinned at her again and ducked, half expecting her to shoot a thunderbolt at his head. Instead she shot him between the legs and he collapsed to the ground screaming. By now, Xane had returned after organizing soldiers to put out the forest fire and he stared at the scene in fascination.

Five minutes later, Hashtis was eating breakfast as the Overlord resumed. "Hashtis, you forget, Arca told me about the battle afterwards too. The outsiders were busy fighting Satan Morocc, Beelzebub was hardly touched until he decided to consume the Lord of Death. Besides, you know just as well as I do, the war is inevitable. A demon does not hibernate for twenty years when it knows full well that it's probably the strongest being in existence in this realm. You're not the only immortal to be aware of Beelzebub's presence, I'm sure, that within a month, he'll be awake again after these twenty long years. That's why I need your help, it's why I need everyone's help."

Finished with breakfast, Hashtis stood up and dumped the plate onto Xane's lap before taking a stroll through the forest. Both the Overlord and Xane followed her cautiously, curious as to what she was up to and at the same time reminded by all of the burnt trees just how dangerous Hashtis was. She led them up to a small cliff, where she could see Rachel in the far distance.

"I'll join your army under two conditions, Vashara." She turned to face him, tapping slowly into the power that lay dormant inside her.

"Name them." He noticed the change in her aura and watched on a pair of horns appeared on her head. _She's reverting…this could get dangerous…_He drew his blade and released the locks binding his energy until he grew to a level matching the high priestess.

"Firstly, you'll promise not to harm Arca. Secondly, you'll teach me how to use a sword in that style you use. You keep your end of the deal and I'll keep mine." She extended a hand for him to shake and the Overlord took it, sealing their deal.

Xane watched on in shock as a current of electricity passed through the Overlord and the man collapsed to the ground. Hashtis smiled and started to walk away back towards the camp. Xane noticed as she left that a pair of snakes were now entwined around her neck. _Just what the hell is she?_ Before he could move to ask her directly, the Overlord stirred and duty compelled Xane to help him up. The two of them hobbled back to camp, following the demonic high priestess.

--

"So how the hell did you get from Prontera to here?"

The sun was setting as the army had made camp in the fields close to the Ice Cave. Vashara had assured Hashtis that he would train her tomorrow, when they actually arrived back at the army's headquarters. In the meantime, she went around gathering as much information as she could. It was not long before she found the time to interrogate Xane, the knight commander she had last seen in Prontera.

The man shrugged and leaned back on his sleeping canvas. "The King abandoned the city just as the commander moved in, and he gave us a choice of whether to stay or not. So I chose to leave with him, along with a bunch of other knights defending the city, what's the point in holding an empty fort anyways?" He noticed that she had reverted back to her distinctively human appearance, though he could have sworn he still saw a pair of snakes eyeing him from Hashtis's neck.

Hashtis nodded, carefully noting every detail, and she was about to inquire further when Xane beat her to the punch.

"I'm not a veteran of the war. At the time I was actually in Al de Baran, supposed to be protecting the city. We didn't make it in time to aid Prontera. But it doesn't take a novice to know that a high priestess shouldn't have the capabilities you do. Sure, they might have a strong magical repertoire, but they definitely shouldn't be able to have as much strength or speed as you do…" Before he could continue to describe his reasoning a tin plate hit him over the head and he looked over to find Hashtis glaring at him.

The cold fire in her eyes was enough to shut him up. He quickly handed her back her rations plate.

"Hello captain idiotic. Announce to everyone that I'm a demon why don't you?" He made to apologize, but the plate hit him over the head again. "This is strictly between Vashara, you, and me. Nobody else. If I find out that everybody knows because of you, I'll personally crucify you on a cross made of lightning." Xane gave a nervous chuckle and made to move away, but suddenly the Overlord sat down besides him, a hand keeping him firmly in place.

"Yes, Hashtis, do tell your story about what happened after I fainted. I certainly don't remember, Arca wouldn't tell me, and Xane here wouldn't have a clue." He ignored the glare she threw at him and calmly swatted aside the plate she hurled his way. Again, Xane was the unlucky recipient of the tin plate.

Rubbing his head, he handed her back the plate. Then an awkward silence ensued as the two men waited for her to begin.

Two long minutes and a great deal of staring followed before the high priestess gave in with a low growl. "Alright…but before I do, I'll explain to little novice knight here that I'm a succubus, and not a little wimpy human high priestess. Now…where to begin…" She looked behind the two men at the glowing campfire…and suddenly it all came back to her.

That fateful day in Prontera...

_ooc: Yup, Hashtis isn't human. (still trying to make sure I can establish clarity and ease of readingness :P) Hmm...I wonder how this turned out, haha. My writing style is growing erratic ahhhhh Dx._


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